Whether or not Mr. Hitchens’ laid it on a little thick with the column’s title can only be ascertained after reading his opinion. I thought he made a couple of keen and dispassionate observations.

Here’s the intro to the column,

Anyone would think we had just elected a hip, skinny and youthful replacement for God, with a plan to modernise Heaven and Hell – or that at the very least John Lennon had come back from the dead.

The swooning frenzy over the choice of Barack Obama as President of the United States must be one of the most absurd waves of self-deception and swirling fantasy ever to sweep through an advanced civilisation. At least Mandela-worship – its nearest equivalent – is focused on a man who actually did something.

I really don’t see how the Obama devotees can ever in future mock the Moonies, the Scientologists or people who claim to have been abducted in flying saucers. This is a cult like the one which grew up around Princess Diana, bereft of reason and hostile to facts.

It can be argued that Obamamania hasn’t been described any better than this.

The second piece is by Liz Jones and it focuses on our future First Lady, Michelle Obama.Read more of this post

Today during lunch I had a conversation with a dear co-worker from the glorious nation of Kazakhstan, unlike Borat (below), she is actually from there.

She is a very kind hearted, elegant woman who is always good for a chat. The topic of Sarah Palin arose and my co-worker expressed her dislike for Mrs. Palin. She went as far as to call her an “extremist”.

I pressed her to explain to me what she meant by that. When we got down to the nuts and bolts of it, my co-worker just doesn’t like her because of her updo and rimless glasses. Reminding me once again how much of a student council election vibe a Presidential election can possess.

I’m not going to sit here and say that this perspective is representative of supporters of the Democratic ticket because it probably isn’t. Based on the following column by Professor Camille Paglia (self-professed Democrat, atheist, libertarian) it most definitely isn’t:

Paglia’s writing is excellent and her insight into the phenomenon that is Sarah Palin is surprisingly free of much of the animosity and vitriol that has been hurled the Gov’s way.

She even makes this bold statement,

Conservative though she may be, I felt that Palin represented an explosion of a brand new style of muscular American feminism. At her startling debut on that day, she was combining male and female qualities in ways that I have never seen before. And she was somehow able to seem simultaneously reassuringly traditional and gung-ho futurist. In terms of redefining the persona for female authority and leadership, Palin has made the biggest step forward in feminism since Madonna

Then on feminism she says this,

Feminism, which should be about equal rights and equal opportunity, should not be a closed club requiring an ideological litmus test for membership

While I could sit here and list quote after quote from this one piece, I thought this one particularly introspective towards Paglia’s preferred political party,

The witch-trial hysteria of the past two incendiary weeks unfortunately reveals a disturbing trend in the Democratic Party, which has worsened over the past decade. Democrats are quick to attack the religiosity of Republicans, but Democratic ideology itself seems to have become a secular substitute religion. Since when did Democrats become so judgmental and intolerant? Conservatives are demonized, with the universe polarized into a Manichaean battle of us versus them, good versus evil. Democrats are clinging to pat group opinions as if they were inflexible moral absolutes. The party is in peril if it cannot observe and listen and adapt to changing social circumstances.

Check out this week’s Random Thoughts from Dr. Sowell, a couple of samples:

I wonder what radical feminists make of the fact that it was men who created the rule of “women and children first” when it came to rescuing people from life-threatening emergencies.

It is hard to get the supporters of Barack Obama to give a coherent reason for their support. The basis for their support seems to be guilt, gullibility or– in the case of some conservatives– a hatred of John McCain.

The other day I was vacuuming when my son came bounding into the room. ‘Mummy, Mummy, let me help,’ he cried. His little hands were grabbing me around the knees and his huge brown eyes were looking up at me. I was overwhelmed by a huge surge of happiness.

I love the way his head nestles in the crook of my neck. I love the way his face falls into a mask of eager concentration when I help him learn the alphabet. But most of all, I simply love hearing his little voice calling: ‘Mummy, Mummy.’

It reminds me of just how blessed I am. The truth is that I very nearly missed out on becoming a mother – thanks to being brought up by a rabid feminist who thought motherhood was about the worst thing that could happen to a woman.

You see, my mum taught me that children enslave women. I grew up believing that children are millstones around your neck, and the idea that motherhood can make you blissfully happy is a complete fairytale.

The rest of the piece gets more heart-breaking. Is this the end result of feminism or only the rabid sort?

In the post you’ll find a lengthy quote from one Martin Luther which I think relevant to the discussion.

What the man’s attitude should be (according to Luther) in regards to the so-called drudgeries of fatherhood,

O God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers, or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? O how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labour, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight.

Then the woman’s to the so-called drudgeries of motherhood,

A wife too should regard her duties in the same light, as she suckles the child, rocks and bathes it, and cares for it in other ways; and as she busies herself with other duties and renders help and obedience to her husband. These are truly golden and noble works. . . .

On a personal note, I once was that guy that proclaimed “Never will I change a diaper” only to do it (happily I might add, though I’ve been slacking as of late) after our son was born.

Prior to witnessing our son’s birth I admired my wife for her beauty, her wit, and her mind. Afterwards said admiration grew exponentially for reasons which words cannot express.